March 15, 2015

Back in March 2012, the Sahara Hotel was closed and we snapped a few photos of it while we drove past on the strip. I thought people might like to see them to remember for old times’ sake.

In its spot, they now have a hotel called SLS. They really just washed off all the personality and reused the building. They tore out the roller coaster and made everything white and boring. I really miss the Las Vegas of the Nineties and wish they would go back to the kid-friendly thing. Since I’m basically just a grown-up kid, all this “sophistication” is just lost on me…

I don’t know why we keep visiting The Luxor Hotel over and over. There are hundreds of hotels in Las Vegas we could stay at and have a different experience. I guess we like the familiarity of a hotel we’ve stayed at before.

Then again, I don’t know why we keep visiting Las Vegas over and over. Part of it is location. It is close enough to be not too long of a drive and far enough to feel like a get-a-way.

I keep thinking we should visit someplace else, but how can I when Las Vegas is as beautiful as it is time and time again?

June 4, 2012

Our first night on our Epic Journey, we stayed at Holiday Inn Express. Mike needed to work that night and Holiday Inn always has good wi-fi. The next morning, we left early and ate their complimentary breakfast. We had a fun surprise with the Pancakes In A Minute machine in their breakfast room.

This was our only stay in a hotel on the entire epic journey. In retrospect, we should have left one day later and just stayed at a campsite. Mike would have been more rested and the drive wasn’t nearly as difficult as we worried it would be.

March 24, 2012

You know you’re in the cheapest hotel in town when you wake up to the strains of The Hangover Song coming through the wall of your hotel room. The sing song tune is easy to master and the lyrics are simple:

I have a hangover! [repeat ad infinitum]

Ironically, your hotel neighbors can only sing The Hangover Song if they are still slightly drunk from the night before.

Note: This rule does not apply if you are staying in Las Vegas, New Orleans or Atlantic City. You may be awoken by The Hangover Song even in the finest hotels in those cities.

January 29, 2012

We had spent half the day fighting with the hotel staff trying to get the Internet to work in our hotel room. We were there to write for The Gadgets Page about CES, so having the Internet was ESSENTIAL. If they hadn’t been able to get it to work for us, we would have had no choice but to get a different hotel.

Our Internet was working (FINALLY) and it was time to go to bed and we realized that the heat wasn’t working in our room. The temperatures had fallen in Vegas and the room was unpleasantly chilly. Mike asked me, “Should we call the front desk?”

After dealing with the uncaring staff all day, I could envision our journey toward getting a room with heat. Firstly, they would send the same poor, incompetent fellow to our room who had handed us a blue CAT5 wire as if it were a dirty worm. After an indeterminate amount of time banging around on the furnace in our bedroom, he would tell it was fixed, when in actuality, now it was broken AND noisy. Then we would have to decide if we wanted to change rooms and deal with the whole broken Internet issue again.

It sounded like an exercise in frustration when all I wanted was to sleep. I said, “It’s warmer in here than in the tent. I’m just going to live with it.” And honestly, I knew I could. As cold as that room was, it was warmer than our night in the tent at Lake Mead in November, and I survived that without an incompetent maintenance man clanging around in the room.

Going camping and braving the elements changes you in ways that you might not even notice. When our basic needs were met, in this case, Internet connectivity, we knew we’d be alright. A little mildew smell and water that tastes contaminated is par for the course when we’re camping. Lack of heat and the ability to see my breath is nothing new on a frosty morning in the tent.

The next time you’re camping and the cold tempts you to pack up your tent and head for the nearest hotel, remember my horrible stay at Tahiti Village and be safe in the knowledge that camping feels so good because it changes you.

January 28, 2012

While we were working at CES this year, Mike and I stayed at Tahiti Village. It wasn’t the worst hotel we’ve stayed at in Nevada, but it was pretty close. Here is Mike’s evaluation of the place:

We liked the price. Otherwise it was nearly the worst hotel experience we’ve ever had.

Hotel staff was rude and inattentive. Internet didn’t work until we spent half a day talking to 8 different employees, all of whom tried to avoid helping us at all. Heater didn’t work in our room. One lamp had dangerous exposed wiring. Not particularly clean. The room smelled of mildew and the bedspread smelled worse. Staff spent two days noisily cleaning carpets outside our room. The tap water tasted terrible and must have been specially imported to complete the experience, because Vegas water is usually just fine.

He forgot to mention that there was no housekeeping at the hotel and if you wanted the room made up, it was an extra $55 charge! There wasn’t even anyone around to ask if we could get fresh towels.

After the ordeal of trying to get the Internet to work in our hotel (the front desk had failed to enable it in our room and it took that many employees to figure out the problem), I was ready to abandon the hotel, but all the hotels in Vegas were booked solid for the week because of CES, so we ended up staying there.

Aside from living with the mildew smell and avoiding the smelly parts of the furniture, we had no further incidents that week, but the low cost for the hotel room was NOT worth it. Next time, I’ll pay more and stay at a different hotel. There are certainly enough to choose from in Las Vegas.

Because it was so close to the Sands Expo Center, it was a convenient hotel for us. Unfortunately, that’s where the love for the hotel died. Geography and location are important for any real estate property, but CONDITION trumps it in this case.

The Imperial Palace looked like it was waiting for the implosion. From the stained carpets to the inattentive staff, the hotel had an air of resigned finality to it. I took the obligatory pictures of the Hotel SWAG and the room.

We stayed in room 17112.

Here is the Hotel SWAG:

You don’t need to pack a hair dryer:

Each room also has an iron and board so you can smooth out the wrinkles on your suitcase-squashed clothes.

I really hate it when a hotel assumes that I’ll steal from them. I know this sign has more to do with the kind of clientele that frequent an establishment than the establishment itself, but I HATE being treated like a criminal for no reason.

Worst of all, the toilet struggled to flush every time. It was so bad that Mike and I actually bought a plunger just in case. Considering how bad the maintenance was on the property, we had no hope that they would be able to provide us with a plunger if there was an incident. Here is a video of the toilet trying its best to flush.

To be fair, the toilet never plugged up and we didn’t have to use the plunger. However, the toilet wasn’t the only thing having trouble draining. The tub and sink had slow drains as well.

The whole hotel felt like it was just waiting to die. According to Wikipedia, it is:

During a conference call with investors on November 20, 2005, the Chairman for Harrah’s, Gary Loveman, noted that both the Imperial Palace and neighboring O’Sheas “are going to require very substantial modifications or complete tear-downs and rebuilds” in order to make room for a Harrah’s and/or Flamingo expansion on the Strip.[1] However, since then, Harrah’s has invested millions of dollars into refurbishing both the hotel rooms and the casino itself.

In July 2009, Harrah’s announced new plans for the area around the Imperial Palace, O’Shea’s, and Flamingo casinos, confirming that the Imperial Palace will not be demolished at this time.

Since the economy tanked, Harrah’s just seems to be waiting to do ANYTHING to the hotel, even clean the carpets. I liked how close it was to the Expo Center, but considering its tenuous grasp on life, I think I might have to say goodbye to the Imperial Palace.

Update 06-15-11: In July 2009, Harrah’s announced new plans for the area around the Imperial Palace, O’Shea’s, and Flamingo casinos, confirming that the Imperial Palace will not be demolished at this time.

Mount the popsicle stick onto the strainer with the USB wi-fi adapter as close to the center of the strainer as possible. Tape it in place wrapping the electrical tape around the stick, the handle of the strainer and the USB extension cord.

Plug in the USB extension cord into your laptop and turn the wi-fi antenna until you are able to get the best wi-fi signal.

If you pack this wi-fi booster antenna in your car on your next trip, your likeliness of getting wi-fi at your hotel increases exponentially. Give it a try!